Internationalisation of services

Main ways to internationalisation: international trade of services and crossed direct investmen

Service industries and regional analysis. New directions and challenges

The service sector currently accounts for the largest share, both in terms of GDP and employment, of all developed economies, as well as many of the so-called emerging or developing ones. In spite of this, it has been the subject of far less research than manufacturing, although the situation has started to change in the past three decades and it must be pointed out that some activities —such as finance, commerce, transport and those most closely linked to tourism— do have significant analytical literature. In any case, this sector is undergoing very notable changes deriving from new technologies and the progress of digitalization, as well as economic globalization, in which services are playing a particularly relevant role. These changes demand specific and in-depth analyses to explain their causes and to understand their spatial and territorial effects. The objective of this work is to underscore the need for greater research effort focusing on the regional and urban aspects of services, and to suggest certain facts and trends that seem particularly relevant. Undoubtedly, services should occupy a privileged position in the new frontiers of Regional and Urban Analysis. This work aims to justify that need and pose some topics of interest for new research.El sector Servicios es hoy el que mayor peso tiene en todas las economías avanzadas, tanto en términos de PIB como por el número de personas ocupadas, pero también en muchas de las economías calificadas como emergentes o en proceso de desarrollo. Sin embargo, ha recibido mucha menos atención investigadora que las manufacturas, aunque esto ha empezado a cambiar en las tres últimas décadas y hay que reconocer que algunas de sus ramas — como las finanzas, el comercio, el transporte o las más vinculadas al turismo — cuentan con una notable tradición analítica. En todo caso, es un sector que está registrando cambios importantísimos derivados de las nuevas tecnologías y de los avances de la digitalización, a lo que se suma también la globalización económica, donde los servicios están jugando un papel particularmente relevante. Estos cambios demandan análisis específicos y en profundidad para explicar sus causas, pero también para conocer sus efectos espaciales o territoriales. El objetivo de este artículo es, precisamente, subrayar la necesidad de realizar mayores esfuerzos investigadores sobre los aspectos regionales y urbanos de los servicios y sugerir algunas tendencias y hechos que parecen particularmente importantes. Los servicios deben ocupar, sin duda, un lugar destacado en las nuevas fronteras del Análisis Regional y Urbano. Este artículo se orienta, precisamente, a justificar esta necesidad y a plantear también algunas cuestiones de interés para nuevas investigaciones

Internationalisation of services.

Enlarged version. Main ways to internationalisation: international trade of services and crossed direct investment Internationalization, Services, Imports, Globalization, FDI (Foreign Direct Investment), EU Services Directiv

Strategy and Coherence of a Program of Regional Development: A Methodology for synergy evaluation

The main purpose of this paper is to present a methodological proposal to value the synergy in programmes of regional development, regarding either their objectives or their performances. First, the main aspects of the methodology used to evaluate individually the synergy of the objectives (performances) are set out by using a Delphi technique. This technique allows to build a matrix of weights, according to the degree of synergy for every objective (performance). Then, hierarchical clusters are applied in the data processing. This technique leads to a ranking of objectives which shows the strategic value of the programme subject to evaluation. The methodological analysis shows also an application of the Community Support Framework ( 1994-1999) for the Spanish Objective 1 regions.

The key role of the productive structure in the countercyclical productivity in Spain

One of the most controversial topics of the Spanish economy is the countercyclical behavior of its productivity, both in the expansive years and during the recent financial and economic crisis. Additionally, this countercyclical pattern is unique among the economies of its area. This letter considers one of the likely answers to this fact: the Spanish productive structure, which is characterized by sectors such as construction and some service industries

La productividad y competitividad en los servicios españoles : ¿cómo ha afectado la reciente crisis económico-financiera?

Este trabajo, ya revisado, será próximamente publicado por la revista ‘Ekonomiaz’El análisis de la productividad en las actividades de servicios ha sido objeto de un interesante y creciente debate a escala internacional. Por otra parte, la productividad ocupa, desde principios de los noventa, una posición central en el estudio de la competitividad internacional de las economías. Este trabajo analiza, precisamente, las relaciones que existen entre la competitividad internacional, la productividad y los costes laborales en el sector servicios de la economía española. El ejercicio que se toma como punto de partida es 1995 y el análisis abarca hasta la actualidad, lo que permite examinar el impacto que ha tenido la crisis económica en dichas variables, con un enfoque desagregado del sector servicios. Los resultados que se obtienen son relevantes, particularmente porque en algunas de las actividades de servicios se evidencia que los factores no relacionados directamente con los costes y los precios tienen un papel muy significativo. Esto permite distanciarse – al menos parcialmente - de las teorías convencionales sobre comercio internacionalSince the 90s, productivity has become a key factor in the analysis of the international competitiveness. On the other hand, the measurement and analysis of the productivity within the service sector and their heterogeneous activities has been object of an interesting and wide international debate in recent years. This paper analyses the relationship between competitiveness, productivity and labor costs in the Spanish service industries from 1995 onwards. The two main value added of this paper to the existing literature are the disaggregated analysis within services and the focus on the disparities caused by the economic crisis. The main results suggest that non cost related factors have a key role to explain the competitiveness of some service industries, partially refuting some conventional theories on international trad